THE STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ: DIPLOMACY

THE STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ: DIPLOMACY; U.S. OPEN TO PLAN THAT SUPPLANTS COUNCIL IN IRAQ

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN and DAVID E. SANGER

Published: April 16, 2004

WASHINGTON, April 15—
The Bush administration accepted on Thursday the outlines of a United Nations proposal to dissolve the Iraqi Governing Council installed last year by the United States and replace it with a caretaker government when Iraqi sovereignty is restored on July 1.

Administration officials said that the proposal by Lakhdar Brahimi, the special United Nations envoy in Iraq, to create a new government of prominent Iraqis had many details to be worked out, but that for now it was acceptable to President Bush.

''I don't see anything at this point in what he's proposing that would be of concern to us,'' said Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, in an interview, adding that Mr. Brahimi's mission ''thus far has been very successful.''

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell also supported the plan, while Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, without explicitly approving it said it was likely to become a reality.

The Brahimi plan would replace the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council with a transition government whose leaders would be appointed by the United Nations, after consultations with the United States, the governing council and other Iraqis. It could include members of the current governing council, but it is unclear how it would balance religious and regional rivalries within Iraq. By endorsing the Brahimi plan, the administration seemed to accept diminished American influence over the Iraqi political process as self-rule approaches and after power has passed back to Baghdad. The move was the latest abandonment of an element of the plan the Americans arrived at on Nov. 15, specifying the June 30 transfer.

But administration officials asserted that, even with the United Nations overseeing the selection of a caretaker government and then holding an election and helping the Iraqis write a constitution, American influence on the process would be considerable -- not least because the United States is to remain in charge of military and security matters, and will be the country's main source of economic aid.

In addition, Ms. Rice's chief deputy for Iraq, Robert Blackwill, has been working side by side with Mr. Brahimi in Iraq to come up with the plan proposed on Wednesday, several officials noted. The surge of violence in Iraq in recent weeks effectively forced President Bush's hand, administration officials said. They acknowledge that any new plan had to be proposed by the United Nations and bear no obvious stamp of American influence.

American, European and United Nations diplomats all said that the Brahimi plan would probably give the United Nations a major role, and perhaps the leading role, in superintending the process of building democracy in Iraq.

''What he has come up with is an idea that he thinks will work,'' Ms. Rice said, referring to Mr. Brahimi. ''In May he will have an actual proposal, but we have no objections thus far to what he has proposed.''

Mr. Powell told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that Mr. Brahimi's proposal ''reflects some very, very good thinking'' and ''a great deal of wisdom and experience'' on his part, though he noted that the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, now needed to give his blessing.

On Thursday night, Mr. Annan met in New York with Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, to discuss Mr. Brahimi's proposal. Mr. Blair said he welcomed Mr. Brahimi's efforts ''to find the right political way forward'' in Iraq.

Administration officials, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issues, said they were concerned that at least some members of the current Iraqi Governing Council would try to block Mr. Brahimi's proposal or jockey to make themselves a part of it.

''There are clearly some politics in Iraq, and the governing council is part of that politics,'' said an administration official. ''It isn't a matter of us telling Brahimi what to do. It's a matter of what he thinks is right and of his being aware of what we think will be effective.''

The 25-member Iraqi Governing Council was the product of efforts led by L. Paul Bremer III, the American occupation administrator, when he first arrived in Baghdad at the close of what President Bush called major combat. At the time, American officials praised it as representative of Iraqi aspirations and perhaps even the most representative government in the Arab world. Since then, however, the council has lost much credibility in Iraqi society, American officials say.

In recent weeks, however, there were signs that American officials remained wedded to keeping the council, in an expanded version. Mr. Powell said only two weeks ago that an expanded version of the council was the most likely alternative.

Some American officials say that they expect Ahmad Chalabi, an exile favored by the Pentagon, could be marginalized as a result of the new plan. Aides to Mr. Brahimi make no secret of the envoy's disdain for Mr. Chalabi. Mr. Rumsfeld is described by knowledgeable diplomats as still favoring a major role for Mr. Chalabi in Iraq.

Mr. Rumsfeld said that since the Brahimi plan was deemed ''a reasonable one'' by State Department and White House officials, ''the odds favor a model something like what Mr. Brahimi announced.''

Mr. Brahimi, a veteran of peacekeeping operations, most recently was in charge of putting together a government in Afghanistan, for which he won widespread praise. The Afghan model of convening a council of notables from around the country to approve a new constitution is similar to the one he has proposed for Iraq. Administration officials cautioned that there was some hard work to do to make sure that Iraq's various factions could coalesce around Mr. Brahimi's proposal, though they acknowledge that the chances of their doing so were better than they would be for anything put forward by an American envoy.

United States armed forces have tried to counter attacks by Shiites and Sunnis and create a stable environment in which the political process could be installed. Meanwhile, military commanders have complained that a lack of progress on the political front has hampered their own efforts to stabilize Iraq.

Photo: UNDER FIRE -- United States marines on patrol in the Falluja area yesterday were attacked several times by insurgents, despite a cease-fire called to give negotiators on both sides time to reach a solution. The marines killed several insurgents while suffering only minor injuries. Page A6. (Photo by Lynsey Addario/Corbis, for The New York Times)